DEVELOPMENT
the road of DONOR SPOTLIGHT: AMEL AND BRIDGET WHITAKER I
n Luke 10, Jesus shares a powerful story of the “Good Samaritan.” Like the Good Samaritan there are times in life when we are not looking to help, instead the
opportunity to change a life is in plain sight. With a heart for Christ-centered education and children in dire need of hope, Amel and Bridget Whitaker are shining examples of what it looks like to be a ‘Good Samaritan’ on the road of life. One way we reveal God to our world is
through generosity. Generosity comes from grace and grace comes from love and we love because Christ first loved us. The Whitakers have demonstrated a love for others, kind- ness of heart and sensitivity to needs that is rarely known to our world. It is truly Christ working in their hearts to love others and lift them up physically and in spirit. Amel is a gentle man who came to know
Christ while studying engineering at Purdue University. His Road to Emmaus experience caused him to leave the engineering program to pursue a life of serving people through
counseling. As a licensed psychotherapist with a concentration in autism, mental health for aging adults, and pre-marital counseling he sought to integrate his faith with counsel- ing. He has served Jessup generously by pro- viding the Whitaker Psychology Scholarship (most recent recipient, Michelle Smithers pictured), training on crisis counseling to our residential advisors and has played the role of consultant in our future hopes to create a University Counseling Center. Bridget is a talented and joyous woman
with a heart to serve others. In 2014 she was asked by an organization called Special Spaces, a non-profit organization that pro- vides dream bedroom makeovers for children with life threatening illnesses, to help with graphic design. It wasn’t long before Amel and Bridget found themselves opening a new Sacramento chapter of Special Spaces and have since provided two new rooms for a little boy with Leukemia and a teenage girl with a rare battle with lupus to the brain. Their service allows them to meet families
in great physical and spiritual need. Their stories are quite moving and it is evident God is transforming lives. These ventures were not sought out. Amel
and Bridget walk the road of life with open hearts to God’s presence and work in our community. Amel’s scholarship generosity was a surprise, as he had not given to such a fund in the past. Bridget’s volunteer service to a non-profit led to the opening of a new chapter and directorship. Sometimes we cannot identify the nexus of
our passions and opportunities to be gener- ous, but if we, like Amel and Bridget, look at our lives as Good Samaritans we will begin to see the Lord reveal our opportunities to impact the Kingdom as we follow the road God has sovereignly laid before us.
BY DAVID PINESCHI DIRECTOR OF DONOR DEVELOPMENT
PRESIDENT'S CIRCLE MEMBERSHIP BEGINS AT $1,000 ANNUALLY TO STUDENT SCHOLARSHIPS |
JESSUP.EDU/GIVING JESSUP MAGAZINE 25
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